YORK, PA – The Spartan baseball team split a MAC Commonwealth doubleheader with Eastern University on Saturday afternoon in York. The Eagles won game one 4-3 before the Spartans bounced back with a 3-2 win in the nightcap.
The two teams have played four straight one-run games with Eastern winning three of the last four. The game one loss was York's first one-run loss of the year.
 
Game One
Records: York 12-12 (8-5 MACC); Eastern 8-19 (4-10 MACC)
Runs: York 3; Eastern 4
Hits: York 7; Eastern 4
Errors: York 2; Eastern 1
WP: John Beck (4-2); LP: Zach Reed (1-4); Save: Logan Culp (1)
 
How It Happened
• The Eagles struck early as they nicked Spartan starter Zach Reed for a run in the top of the first. Evan Barks ripped a one-out double down the left field line. He moved to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a Matt McHale ground out to short.
• Eastern got an unearned run in the fourth as they took a 2-0 lead. The Spartan offense was struggling to get the big hit as they stranded seven runners on base through the first four innings of play.
• York finally got untracked in the bottom of the fifth as Robby Elzinga opened the inning with single to right. Gabe Trevena then ripped a double to left to put Spartans at second and third with no outs. Michael Tinneny grounded out to short to score Elzinga and get the Spartans on the board. After a ground out for out number two, Jacob Deimling drew a walk to put Spartans at the corners. Senior Brendan Martin then fashioned a great at-bat as he was down in the count 0-2. On the third pitch he drilled a triple off the right field wall, giving the Spartans a 3-2 lead.
• The Eagles wasted no time in responding as Barks led off the sixth with a single to left. He came strolling home on a McHale home run to left as the Eagles went back in front, 4-3.
• That was enough to lift the Eagles to the win as the Spartans got a single from Elzinga in the sixth and went in order in the seventh as they dropped their third straight against Eastern.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Robby Elzinga: 3-for-3, 1 run, 2B, SB
Gabe Trevena: 2-for-4, 1 run, 2B
Brendan Martin: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, 3B
Chris Betler: 1-for-1, 1 BB, HBP
 
Spartan Pitching
Zach Reed: 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 4 runs, 3 ER, 10 K, 0 BB, 1 HB
 
Game Two
Records: York 13-12 (9-5 MACC); Eastern 8-20 (4-11 MACC)
Runs: York 3; Eastern 2
Hits: York 6; Eastern 6
Errors: York 0; Eastern 2
WP: AJ Vincenzi (1-0); LP: Gavin Mikulski (0-6)
 
How It Happened:
• The Spartans got on the board first in the bottom of the third. Senior Emidio Bucci doubled to deep center field to start the frame. Eastern starter Gavin Mikulski retired the next two Spartans but Michael Tinneny singled off Mikulski to put runners at the corners. Andrew Santarpia followed with another single off Mikulski's body to plate Bucci for the 1-0 lead.
• The Eagles tied the game in the fifth as they finally reached Spartan starter Brandon Purdy. With two outs, Evan Barks continued his big day with a single to left. Matt McHale walked to put runners at first and second. Austin Utterbaugh then stroked a single through the right side to tie the game at one and chase Purdy. The Eagles then ran themselves out of the inning as they tried to pull off a double steal but McHale was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
• The Spartans played small ball in the sixth to take the lead. Jacob Deimling opened the inning with a walk. Brendan Martin then laid down a sacrifice bunt but the Eagles threw the ball away, allowing Deimling to move to third and Martin to reach first. A failed pick off of Martin allowed Deimling to score and Martin to move to second. After a fly out, Luke Moser singled to right, moving Martin to third. Bucci then pulled off a perfect squeeze as he bunted down the first base line, allowing Martin to score for the 3-1 Spartan lead. That run proved to be huge for the Spartans.
• The Eagles loaded the bases with one out with the Spartans clinging to the two-run lead in the top of the seventh. McHale walked to push across Eastern's second run of the game. AJ Vincenzi then got a pop up to short and a foul out to first to get out of the jam and record the win for York.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Andrew Santarpia: 1-for-3, RBI
Brendan Martin: 1-for-2, 1 run, 2B
Emidio Bucci: 1-for-1, 1 run, 1 RBI, BB, 2B
Robby Elzinga: 1-for-4
Luke Moser: 1-for-1
 
Spartan Pitching
Brandon Purdy: 4.2 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 6 K, 3 BB
AJ Vincenzi: 2.1 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 2 BB, HB
 
Spartan Notes
York is now 11-5 all-time against the Eagles with the split … the Spartans are now 6-5 at Jaquet Field … the Spartans are hitting .218 against left handed pitchers this year as Eastern starter Gavin Milkulski held the Spartans to 5-for-20 in game two … York is now 3-5 against left handed starters this year … the Spartans have been outscored by a combined 50-30 in the sixth and seventh innings this year … York is now 5-1 in one-run games this year … York is 9-4 when scoring first and 4-8 when their opponents score first … senior Zach Reed threw the Spartans' first complete game of the year in the game one loss … Brandon Purdy put together another strong start in the nightcap as he allowed one run in his 4.2 innings of work … AJ Vincenzi picked up his first win of the year in relief in game two … Robby Elzinga became the first Spartan to reach double figures in doubles as he now has 10 for the year … Elzinga leads the Spartans with 64 total bases.
 
Up Next
The Spartans and Eagles wrap up their season series on Monday in St. David's. First pitch at Eastern is scheduled for 3:30 pm. The game is being made up from a rainout on Friday.